The Pokémon Company International has been collaborating with McDonald’s almost every year since 2011 to put toys or cards in Happy Meals, and this year’s set of 15 cards is now available in the U.S. This promotion has already been run in Germany, Austria, and the U.K. earlier this summer, and is currently also running in Australia, so a full list of cards, as well as which ones are available printed in the usual Happy Meal confetti holofoil, is already available. Just like the 2022 Happy Meal cards, this set is entirely comprised of reprints of cards from other available sets.

Today's livestream on the Pokémon Trading Card Game's official Japanese YouTube channel has revealed a new Special Art Rare version of the Larry supporter card, which will be released in Japan at the end of next week on September 22nd as part of the upcoming Raging Surf subset for the Scarlet & Violet series of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Cards from this set are expected to be released internationally as part of the Scarlet & Violet: Paradox Rift expansion later this year.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet received an update to Version 2.0.1 today alongside the release of The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 1: The Teal Mask. This update makes a significant number of changes, including for players who have not yet purchased the DLC, with the addition of new Pokémon, a selection of new quality of life features, some adjustments to other game features, and the implementation of some minor bug fixes.

Niantic has released details on this year's Psychic Spectacular event, that was first announced at the end of July. An annual event in Pokémon GO, the Psychic Spectacular will this year run from September 20th, at 10:00am to September 24th, at 8:00pm local time. Shiny Solosis will be making its Pokémon GO debut as part of this event.

While The Pokémon Company International has kept the details sparse, a new promo on The Official Pokémon YouTube channel has given fans their first look at an upcoming collaboration between Pokémon and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The video shows Pikachu and Eevee frolicking through the Dutch countryside surrounded by Vincent Van Gogh’s quintessential sunflowers - which then turn into Sunfloras.

A brand new Egg Event is making its debut today in Pokémon Masters EX, showcasing Pokémon from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's Paldea region. A pair of Costume Scouts, featuring a selection of Sync Pairs associated with past Costume Events, are also now live as part of the continuing celebrations of the game's 4 Year Anniversary. Both the event and these scouts are available now, and will run through until September 25th, at 10:59pm (PDT).

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet have been out for almost nine months now, and, with the imminent release of the first DLC, I figured it was about time for a bit of reflection on the base games themselves.

Detective Pikachu Returns’ release date is just around the corner on October 6th, and a new range plushies, stationary, and more to go with it have been announced by Pokémon Center in Japan. The determined-looking detective will feature as a talking plushie for ¥3,960 (~$27.00 USD), as well as on mugs, document protectors, and a mousepad. A selection of t-shirts are also planned for release, though the designs for these have not yet been revealed.

Following on from the reveal of the Ancient Roar and Future Flash expansions during the Pokémon Champions League tournament in Yokohama over the weekend, an update on the Pokémon Trading Card Game's official Japanese homepage has revealed an additional selection of cards from the upcoming sets, which will be released in English later this year as part of the Scarlet & Violet: Paradox Rift expansion.

As part of the Day 2 live stream for this weekend's Pokémon Champions League tournament in Yokohama, Pokémon TCG fans have received their first official look at the upcoming Ancient Roar and Future Flash expansions for the Pokémon Trading Card Game. These sets together are the Japanese counterpart of the Paradox Rift expansion that was officially revealed last month, and will release in Japan on October 27th.

The Super Tour Guide Rosa Costume Event is making a return to Pokémon Masters EX this week, together with a Costume Scouts for its featured sync pair, Rosa & Shaymin. Both the event and scout will be available until September 23rd, at 10:59pm (PDT).

Pokémon Café ReMix's latest hospitality event, Lechonk the Foodie, is giving players the opportunity to get Lechonk's attention towards the Café and recruit them to their staff! Snivy's Picnic is now also available through Special Delivery in Pelipper Delivery, while a new Special Pass has Flareon's return along with many rewards, including the return of the of the Farm Fresh Pack featuring Pikachu in its Farm Fresh outfit. New orders are also available as well!

This week's episode of Pokémon Horizons was cute and sweet. Liko finally catches her second Pokémon in Hatenna, after forming a bond with her by understanding her emotional distress. It wasn’t exactly the perfect episode, but I still enjoyed it overall.

As part of the Day 1 live stream for this weekend's Pokémon Champions League tournament in Yokohama, Pokémon TCG fans have received their first look at a selection of upcoming cards which will be released in Japan later this month on September 22nd as part of the upcoming Raging Surf subset for the Scarlet & Violet series of the Pokémon Trading Card game. Cards from this set are expected to be released internationally as part of the Scarlet & Violet: Paradox Rift expansion later this year.

As part of a celebration of the Japanese Tsukimi (月見 "moon viewing") festival, the Weathernews LiVE 24-hour live streaming channel will be broadcasting a Mid-Autumn Harvest Moon Special Program live on September 29th, from 9pm to 10pm (JST). During this program, viewers will be able to watch the moon together with host Airi Yamagishi (山岸愛梨) and Clefairy, who is joining the show for the second year running as a Weathernews LiVE special caster.

The Horrorible Games speedrunning group will be hosting a special speedrunning mini-marathon from September 9th to September 10th, raising money to support George Emsley, known as MASH in the speedrunning and gaming community, in helping pay off debt incurred by emergency dental surgery. The event, which can be watched from the Horrorible Games Twitch page, will see runners attempting to complete various games and/or objectives within a game as quickly as possible.

Pokémon Sleep will be receiving another small update in the coming days, with the announcement that Mime Jr. and Mr. Mime will soon be appearing at Cyan Beach for player's sleep research from September 12th at 6:00am (UTC) / September 11th at 11:00pm (PDT).

Niantic has released details on the next Research Day event in Pokémon GO, featuring the Weed Pokémon Oddish. This event will run on September 17th, from 2:00pm to 5:00pm local time.

Following the recent announcement of Halloween-themed apparel, Pokémon Center has debuted new home décor, tableware, and plushies for the spooky season, as well as this year’s Pokémon Haunted Village figures. These new additions to The Pokémon Company International’s Pokéween promotion are available now from Pokémon Center Online in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada.

Battle Pass 18 has gone live in Pokémon UNITE. This new Battle Passes launches together with the update to Version 1.12.1.2, and the start of Ranked Match Season 14. The new Battle Pass sees the return of the Pokébuki theme that originally ran in Battle Pass 7, and brings with it a variety of new daily lessons and missions, holowear, and rewards. Version 1.12.1.2 also sees severe nerfs to Mewtwo following community complaints, along with nerfs to other Pokémon such as Alolan Ninetails.